Silence and Waves in the Pacific Northwest

If you’ve never been deep in the woods of the Pacific Northwest, this short video is a great introduction to the magic out here.

And it captures how the drive out to the beach (3-6hrs for me) is a big part of the ritual of surfing out here. There’s a turn on the road, somewhere out near the Makah land, where the trees suddenly get really big, the temperature drops, and you suddenly realize you’ve crossed over something.

Gordon surfs some of the same beaches I do, and we met over his gorgeous old van (which the Surfer’s Journal camera couldn’t ignore). He’s a very modest guy, so I had no idea about his project, or the awards, until I’d treated myself to my very first issue of Surfer’s Journal and opened it to see my favorite van and Gordon surfing with his handplane.

There is something about the people you meet surfing out here. I think the distance and the long drive is part of it. The waves are far away from everyone here, and folks who are surfing regularly have all made some big changes in their lives to be able to get out often. You see it in the campers, roof-top tents, and 4×4 vans people arrive in. But it’s also in the jobs they’ve taken or made for themselves, their arrangements with family, and the way they cook real meals on the beach.

Almost more than surfing per se, I think this is what we have in common: we’re all making time for this.

What are you making time for?